SEATTLE -- Dan Wampfler, winemaker for Dunham Cellars in Walla Walla, will join the Washington State Wine Commission this month as a new board member to help with marketing.

Wampfler has been head winemaker at Dunham since 2008 and holds a master's degree in enology from Michigan State University. He began working in Washington in 2003 as a research enologist for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and worked in various positions at Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest until he accepted the position at Dunham.

"I feel that becoming an active member of the Washington State Wine Commission will be a great opportunity to assist with industry challenges," Wampfler said in a news release, adding "education, as well as promotion, is very important to the Washington wine industry."

The Washington State Wine Commission was created in 1987 by the state Legislature to represent all wineries and wine grape growers in the state. It is led by a board of 13 commissioners.

By law, the board must be made up of wineries and growers both large and small and from western and eastern Washington, as well as one fruit wine producer, one wholesaler, and one WSDA representative. Commissioners are appointed by the director of the Washington state Department of Agriculture.